Local-first · Private · Open Source
Your Spellbook
for Thought
Local-first notes with an on-device assistant — no Grimoire cloud account required.
Grimoire is a desktop note-taking app with a built-in assistant: notes, search, and chat stay in one window. Default chat runs through Ollama on your machine; your notes live in a local database with local indexes for search and the assistant. Export to Markdown from the app when you need plain files.
- Runs on your machine — notes and assistant stay local.
- Markdown editing with search and local Ollama chat offline when optional network features are off. Optional Wikipedia or catalogue flows use the network only when you turn them on.
- Open source under GPL v3; no Grimoire cloud account for your notes.
GPL v3 Notes stay on your machine Assistant via Ollama on localhost Optional Wikipedia / bundles — network only if you enable them
At a glance
- What it is
- Local-first desktop notes with Markdown editing and an on-device assistant (Ollama). Open source under GPL v3.
- Installers
- Use the Download page.
- Source code
- https://github.com/3ravens/Grimoire
- Full documentation
- https://docs.grimoireapp.dev
Machine-readable discovery (llms.txt, sitemap, RSS)
How Grimoire differs in approach
Factual contrasts — not a scorecard against any single product.
Compared with a typical cloud notebook
- Your notes stay in local app data you control; sync is your choice, not a product requirement.
- Works without an account; there is no vendor-hosted copy of your notes by default.
- Offline-capable core — your notes stay usable without the network when optional bundled-library features are off; enabling them (e.g. Wikipedia) may use the network for downloads or updates.
Compared with chat in a browser
- Notes are first-class: structure, links, and search stay in one app, not only in a chat transcript.
- The assistant can use your note context locally instead of living only in a browser tab session.
- No subscription to a hosted model is required; local models (e.g. via Ollama) are optional.
What you get in the app
Capabilities that reinforce the same idea: your notes and assistant stay under your roof.
Private by default
No Grimoire cloud account for your notes: they stay in local app data on your machine (SQLite plus vector indexes), with default chat through Ollama on localhost. Optional features (such as downloading Wikipedia bundles or a catalogue) use the network only when you enable them. Core use can stay offline; export to Markdown when you want portable files.
Markdown editing
Write in Markdown with a distraction-free editor — tags, wiki-links, and the syntax you already know. Notes are stored in a local database; export when you want plain files.
AI That Knows Your Notes
A built-in assistant powered by Ollama runs entirely on your hardware. Ask questions, summarize, and explore your knowledge — privately.
Open Source, GPL v3
Grimoire is free software. Inspect the code or fork it. Your tools should respect your freedom as much as your privacy.
Why I built it
“A grimoire is a book of spells — but yours holds something more powerful: everything you know.”
I built Grimoire because I believe your second brain should be yours alone. Private by architecture, not by policy.
Ready to begin?
Grimoire is free, open source, and ready to run on your machine today.